A reader (Michael) has asked me to define the political term ‘Libertarianism.’
Well, I might just flick pass that question to one of the major dictionaries.
The Cambridge Dictionary says this is the belief that people should be free to think and behave as they want and should not have limits put on them by governments.
But a great many Liberal and Conservative Parties would say the same—so what makes this sort of political thinking different or distinctive in any way?
John Ruddick is a member of the New South Wales upper house (the Legislative Council) and is a member of the Libertarian Party.
His website says: ‘Libertarianism is a philosophy which recognizes the self-ownership of the individual, and that no one’s life, liberty, or property can be morally infringed upon by another.’
And most of us would agree that personal liberty is a very high priority.
The problem with that sort of strong language is that other people have rights, and we have responsibilities towards other people—we have obligations as members of society.
Libertarianism seems to downplay these.
Sometimes, it seems to me, we might choose to give up a bit our liberty (a personal right we have) for the good of others.
To give a made-up example: we might support a law that compelled us to provide personal ID when we play a poker machine—even though that’s an infringement of our personal liberty.
But we can see that there are people with gambling addictions (that ruin them and their families) and we allow our liberty to be infringed in an attempt to help them control their addiction.
So, I have some reservations about Libertarianism.
It seems to me to go too far in one direction; to be unbalanced.
What do you think?
Tonight I'll join Peta Credlin on News24 for 'Words Matter.'
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BY THE WAY...
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